Where does “copperhead” come from?
copperhead (English) comes from English copper, from English cop, from Middle English cop, from Old English cop, from Proto-West Germanic *kopp, from Proto-Germanic kuppaz, from Proto-Indo-European gup-, from Proto-Indo-European gew- — to bend, curve, arch, buckle; to bend, to curve;...
copperhead (English): Any of various types of snakes having a...
Definitions
- Any of various types of snakes having a...
Ancestry of “copperhead”, step by step
copperhead traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English copper
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | copper | A reddish-brown, malleable, ductile metallic... |
| 2 | English | cop | To capture or arrest someone |
| 3 | Middle English | cop | summit; top, tip, topmost part; top of the head,... |
| 4 | Old English | cop | — |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | *kopp | vessel, container, bowl |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | kuppaz | round object; orb; vessel; container; bowl;... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | gup- | round object, knoll |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | gew- | to bend, curve, arch, buckle; to bend, to curve;... |
via English head
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | head | The part of the body of an animal or human which... |
| 2 | English | -y | Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives... |
| 3 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 4 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |